Effects of Thinning on Litterfall Production and Leaf Litter Decomposition Rates of Karacabey Forested Wetlands, Bursa, Turkiye

Temel Sarıyıldız; Salih Parlak; Oktay Gönültaş; Gamze Savacı

doi:10.33904/ejfe.1317805

EN

Effects of Thinning on Litterfall Production and Leaf Litter Decomposition Rates of Karacabey Forested Wetlands, Bursa, Turkiye

Abstract

The contribution of litterfall (dead leaves, twigs, etc., fallen to the ground) and forest floor (organic residues such as leaves, twigs, etc., in various stages of decomposition, on the top of the mineral soil) is fundamental in both forest ecosystem sustainability and soil greenhouse gases (GHG) exchange system with the atmosphere. A focus on forested wetlands is particularly important, as these systems account for a disproportionate amount of global carbon flux relative to their spatial coverage, and the decomposition of leaf litter is a major contributor. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of two different thinning treatments (low thinning-canopy closure 41-70% and intense thinning-canopy closure 10-40%) on litterfall, forest floor litter and leaf litter decomposition rates of alder (Alnus glutinosa) stands in Karacabey forested wetlands. The litterfall was monthly collected using open litterfall traps for 2 years from 2021 to 2022. The forest floor litter was also sampled 50 x 50 cm2 quadrates of 5 points in research plots of 20×20 m. The differences in leaf litter decomposition rates between the low and intense thinning stands were investigated using the litterbag method in the field for 18 months. The results indicated that the intense thinning significantly reduced the total litterfall production (7.24 ± 0.384 Mg ha-1) and the forest floor litter (2.78 ± 0.41 Mg ha-1) compared to the low thinning stand (10.8 ± 0.527 Mg ha-1 and (4.38 ± 0.82 Mg ha-1 respectively). Lower leaf litter decomposition rates were also seen in the intense thinning stands than in the lower thinning stands. At the end of the 18 months, the leaf litter mass loss was 83.6% in the intense thinning stands compared to the lower thinning stands (88.3%).

Keywords

Forested wetlands , Thinning , Litterfall , Decomposition , Turkiye

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Forestry Sciences (Other)

Journal Section

Research Article

Authors

Temel Sarıyıldız ^*
0000-0003-3451-3229
Türkiye

Salih Parlak
0000-0003-3808-3297
Türkiye

Oktay Gönültaş
0000-0002-2132-4667
Türkiye

Gamze Savacı
0000-0003-4685-2797
Türkiye

Early Pub Date

June 27, 2023

Publication Date

June 30, 2023

Submission Date

June 21, 2023

Acceptance Date

June 26, 2023

Published in Issue

Year 2023 Volume: 9 Number: 1

DOI

https://doi.org/10.33904/ejfe.1317805

IZ

https://izlik.org/JA47DF39SD

APA

Sarıyıldız, T., Parlak, S., Gönültaş, O., & Savacı, G. (2023). Effects of Thinning on Litterfall Production and Leaf Litter Decomposition Rates of Karacabey Forested Wetlands, Bursa, Turkiye. European Journal of Forest Engineering, 9(1), 26-33. https://doi.org/10.33904/ejfe.1317805

Cited By

The effects of thinning on carbon and nutrient fluxes input into forest floor via litterfall in black pine afforestation sites

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-024-12783-z

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The works published in European Journal of Forest Engineering (EJFE) are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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Effects of Thinning on Litterfall Production and Leaf Litter Decomposition Rates of Karacabey Forested Wetlands, Bursa, Turkiye

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Keywords

References

Details

Primary Language

Subjects

Journal Section

Authors

Early Pub Date

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Submission Date

Acceptance Date

Published in Issue

DOI

IZ

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Cited By

The effects of thinning on carbon and nutrient fluxes input into forest floor via litterfall in black pine afforestation sites